- Signs of the Times Archive for Wed, 10 Oct 2007 -



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Best of the Web
Al-Qaeda: Sort of Like the Energizer Bunny

Kurt Nimmo
Another Day in the Empire
2007-10-10 10:46:00

©Unknown


For those of you slipping back into normalcy, no longer particularly bothered by "al-Qaeda" or the interminable GWOT, along comes another White House report on national security. "We also must never lose sight of al-Qaeda's persistent desire for weapons of mass destruction, as the group continues to try to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material," the neocons claim, hardly coincidentally at the same time they have "called anew on the Democratic-led Congress to expand the power of US intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists 'while protecting the civil liberties of Americans," that last part added as an obligatory calmative, as anybody even halfway acquainted with the Bill of Rights understands full well that eavesdropping, especially in high-tech NSA vacuum cleaner fashion, is a full court press against the Constitution.

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American lockdown: Law enforcement out of control and beyond the pale

Carolyn Baker
The Peoples Voice
2007-10-09 22:21:00

©Unknown
(The photo is from New Orleans and deals with
The Katrina Aftermath)



In my recent article "The End Of America: The Police State Is Right Here, Right Now" I included experiences of escalating intimidation on the part of law enforcement in the United States within recent months. I must confess that when I cite such incidents, I fear that in a few days or weeks, it will all go away, and everyone, myself included, will begin to question the validity of the examples, breathing a heavy sigh of relief and rejoicing that the situation isn't nearly as dire as I'm asserting it is.

This time, however, I have nothing to fear because since that article was posted, the ante of out-of-control law enforcement in America appears to have been upped with a rapidity that I could not have imagined just a few weeks ago.

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U.S. News
Psychopathic Cop who fell on the job sues family of baby who almost drowned

Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinal
2007-10-10 14:36:00

Florida - An officer who went to help when a baby fell in a pool says she slipped in a puddle.

In January, 1-year-old Joey Cosmillo wandered into the backyard and fell into the family pool. When his mother hauled him out, he wasn't breathing. Rescuers were able to bring him back to life, but he suffered severe brain damage and cannot walk, talk or even swallow.

Now, his family faces another burden: One of the rescuers, Casselberry police Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn, is suing, alleging the family left a puddle of water on the floor that afternoon, causing her to slip and fall.



Comment: As if the puddle was left there purposely. It would seem that the people at the scene of the accident were terribly busy trying to save the life of an infant. Who would be running around trying to find any puddles to clean up? Only a psychopath would put themselves and their injury above that of saving a child's life.



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Feeling Safer Yet? Gunman in Rampage Had Been Certified to Be an Officer, State Authorities Say

Monica Davey and Christina Capecchi
The New York Times
2007-10-10 14:36:00

CRANDON, Wis. - As solemn families prepared Tuesday to bury the six young people killed in a shooting rampage here, some residents questioned whether the gunman, a sheriff's deputy and local police officer, should ever have been allowed to carry a badge, much less a gun.

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Shots fired in Cleveland, Ohio area high school


Associated Press
2007-10-10 14:31:00

At least three people have been shot at Success Tech School in Cleveland.

Police believe the gunman is a 14-year-old student, who was upset about a suspension.

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Paulson announces coalition to help homeowners


Reuters
2007-10-10 13:39:00

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Wednesday announced that a coalition of mortgage service companies, counselors and trade organizations was banding together to offer help to hard-pressed homeowners.

"Eleven of the largest mortgage servicers representing 60 percent of the mortgages in America, several of the leading mortgage counselors, investors and large trade organizations have come together and formed a partnership to help more Americans keep their homes," Paulson said in prepared remarks.

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United Auto Workers union strikes some Chrysler plants, others on hold


Reuters
2007-10-10 12:39:00

Workers represented by the United Auto Workers union walked out on strike against Chrysler LLC on Wednesday while keeping five of the automaker's already idled plants "on hold" in a tactical move.

©REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Chrysler Sebring convertibles sit on the assembly line at the Sterling Heights Assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan June 4, 2007.



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More Smoke Blowing! Democrats propose safeguards in Bush's spy program

Thomas Ferraro and Randall Mikkelsen
Reuters
2007-10-10 00:54:00

The rights of Americans swept up in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program would be given new safeguards under a bill introduced on Tuesday by Democratic lawmakers.

But civil liberties advocates complained that the measure, which would require secret-court approval of most spying, did not go far enough in protecting the rights of U.S. citizens.

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UK & Euro-Asian News
Cyprus: 116,000 sheep and goats to be slaughtered

Leo Leonidou
Cyprus Mail
2007-10-10 14:59:00

As many as 116,000 sheep and goats on the island - almost one in four - are to be culled after the Court of Justice of the European Communities decided measures needed to be taken following the appearance of scrapie.

The decision was reached following an appeal by France, with all Member States required to destroy all animals within an infected herd.

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Hypocrisy Alert! Prince Charles Urges Bold Global Warming Action


Reuters/Associated Press
2007-10-10 14:50:00

WASHINGTON - Prince Charles told U.S. lawmakers in a letter Wednesday that the challenges of global warming require a "coordinated response, based on actions across every sector of society.''

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Judge rules Gore climate film requires guidance notes


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-10 14:23:00

A judge on Wednesday ruled that Al Gore's award winning climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" should only be shown in schools with guidance notes to prevent political indoctrination.

High Court judge Michael Burton's decision follows legal action brought by a father of two last month claiming the former US vice-president's film contained "serious scientific inaccuracies, political propaganda and sentimental mush".

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Turk PM confirms plan to allow army operation in Iraq

Hidir Goktas
Reuters
2007-10-10 12:58:00

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Wednesday his government was drawing up plans to authorize a military incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels using the region as a base.

©REUTERS/Stringer
Turkish military trucks carry tanks on a road connecting Turkey's southeastern town of Cizre to Sirnak, October 10, 2007.



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Sarkozy fails to soften Russian backing for Iran


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-10 10:02:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused Wednesday to bend to Western pressure over Iran, saying after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he did not believe the Islamic republic was trying to build a nuclear bomb.

"We do not have information that Iran is trying to create a nuclear weapon. We operate on the principle that Iran does not have those plans," Putin told journalists after the end of the talks with Sarkozy who was in Moscow seeking to ease tensions.

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Russian party receives poll boost from Putin


Reuters
2007-10-10 10:16:00

Support among Russian voters for the United Russia party rose to a record high after President Vladimir Putin announced he would run on the party's ticket in this year's parliamentary election, an opinion poll showed.

The poll, released late on Tuesday, showed 54 percent of voters questioned planned to vote for United Russia in the December 2 parliamentary election, up from 48 percent in the previous poll at the end of September, pollster VTsIOM said.


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Around the World
Myanmar opposition leader tortured to death


Reuters
2007-10-10 14:08:00

A Myanmar opposition leader who was arrested during last month's mass protests against the junta died due to torture during interrogation, an activist group said on Wednesday.

In Washington, the United States threatened new sanctions against Myanmar after media reports of the death of Win Shwe.



Comment: Hypocrites! The U.S. government must keep up the appearance that it abhors torture, when in actuality, it embraces the procedure with open arms.



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Damage Control! Sudan army denies attacking Darfur town

Opheera McDoom
Reuters
2007-10-10 13:43:00

Sudan's army has denied attacking the only Darfur rebel faction to sign a peace deal with Khartoum, saying tribal clashes were to blame for the fighting which killed 45 people in Muhajiriya town.



Comment: Lies!



The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Minni Arcua Minnawi was the only one of three negotiating rebel factions to sign the May 2006 deal and become part of government. Muhajiriya in South Darfur is the largest town under their control.

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Venezuelan Doctors to Receive 60% Pay Raise and More Investment in Hospitals

Kiraz Janicke
Venezuelanalysis
2007-10-10 11:19:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a 60% salary increase for doctors in Venezuela's public health sector yesterday. He made the announcement during a ceremony commemorating forty years since the assassination of Argentine doctor and hero of the Cuban revolution, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

"The increase of 60% is just and necessary...this is justice for those that work for the life and health of the Venezuelan people," Chavez declared. The pay increase would take effect on November 1 and will include increased Christmas bonuses he assured.

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Update: Vietnam villagers face hunger amid floods


Associated Press
2007-10-10 02:44:00

It is hard to tell where the river ends and the rice fields start. This Vietnamese village is under muddy water that reeks with the stench of dead animals.

©Unknown



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Pakistani jets pound militant stronghold

Haji Mujtaba
Reuters
2007-10-10 01:50:00

Pakistani warplanes on Tuesday pounded militant positions in North Waziristan, as fighting raged for a fourth day in a tribal region known as an al Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, an army spokesman said.

©REUTERS/Graphics



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Time to prepare for transition in Myanmar

Patrick Worsnip
Reuters
2007-10-10 01:40:00

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday it was time to prepare for a government transition in Myanmar but conceded that the ruling military would continue to play a role in the country's future.

©REUTERS/Eric Thayer
United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad speaks to the media in New York September 26, 2007.



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Big Brother
Los Angeles police takes blame for violent May Day protest


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-10 01:55:00

The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday admitted it used excessive force to disperse a May Day demonstration for immigration reform that left dozens injured.

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Senator Wants to Expand Spying Authority

Pamela Hess
Associated Press
2007-10-09 00:16:00

Washington - Congressional Democrats are looking for ways to curtail some of the electronic surveillance authority Congress hastily approved last month just as a key Republican senator is trying to expand those powers.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said Monday he wants Congress to grant immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the government's warrantless wiretapping program prior to January 2007.

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Axis of Evil
Not surprised! Bush urges 'no' vote on Armenian genocide bill

Johanna Neuman
Los Angeles Times
2007-10-10 15:14:00

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and top administration officials urged Congress today to reject a bill that would recognize as "genocide" the World War I-era slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians.

With a showdown on the bill scheduled later today in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Bush warned that passage could damage U.S. relations with Turkey, a key ally in the war against terrorism.

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Top US Court Dismisses CIA Kidnapping Case


VOA News
2007-10-09 02:22:00

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a German man who says he was kidnapped and tortured by CIA agents. The court did not give its reasons for dismissing the suit, but lower courts have ruled that letting Khaled el-Masri's case go to trial would reveal state secrets.

El-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, says he was kidnapped by CIA agents in Macedonia in 2003 and flown to Afghanistan. He says he was held for months on suspicion of terrorism and tortured by his interrogators, freed only when U.S. officials determined they seized the wrong man.

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The Iraq Occupation and the Coming War Against Iran: Political Wickedness and Moral Bankruptcy

Rodrigue Tremblay
TheNewAmericanEmpire.com
2007-10-08 23:06:00

"Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang as when single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

[Iran will react to a bombing attack by the Bush-Cheney administration] "by intensifying the conflict in Iraq and also in Afghanistan, their neighbors, and that could draw in Pakistan. We will be stuck in a regional war for twenty years."
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national-security adviser to President Jimmy Carter

"Israel made a large contribution to the decision to embark on this war. I know that on the eve of the war, [Ariel] Sharon said, in a closed conversation with senators, that if they could succeed in getting rid of Saddam Hussein, it would solve Israel's security problems."
Robert (Bob) Novak, veteran American reporter

"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
Alan Greenspan, former Fed Chairman 1987-2006

"There are people in Washington ... who never intend to withdraw military forces from Iraq and they're looking for ten, 20, 50 years into the future ... the reason that we went into Iraq was to establish a permanent military base in the Gulf region, and I have never heard any of our leaders say that they would commit themselves to the Iraqi people that ten years from now there will be no military bases of the United States in Iraq."
Jimmy Carter, former American President (February 3, 2006)


How do you get out of a hole?

First of all, you stop digging. - This is the simple lesson that the Bush-Cheney White House has so much trouble understanding. For Bush and his neocon crowd, they are militarily occupying Iraq and they intend to remain there, no matter what. It doesn't matter that this immoral and illegal occupation has caused the death of more than one million Iraqis and killed more than 3000 American soldiers. And now, they want to escalate the Iraq war into a wider Middle East conflict involving Iran, thus making sure the United States will be involved militarily in that region of the globe for the next twenty years.

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Middle East Madness
Moscow warns against hasty steps on Iran before UN report


RIA Novosti
2007-10-10 17:53:00

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the international community to wait for the UN watchdog to provide its report on Iran's controversial nuclear program before taking any action.

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Private security convoys strike fear in Baghdad

Yasser Faisal
Reuters
2007-10-10 13:12:00

Car bombs, assassinations, kidnappings, mortar attacks and suicide bombers aside, it's convoys of private security guards hurtling through Baghdad streets that strike fear into many Iraqis.



Comment: You can safely bet that all of the above mentioned 'terrorist maneuvers' are inter-connected with the 'private security guards', as they are now being called, in one way or another.



Incensed with the involvement of a U.S. security firm in the killing of 17 civilians at a busy Baghdad junction last month, Iraqis were again furious after guards from another foreign company shot dead two women in a car on Tuesday.

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Another Land grab! Israeli army orders confiscation of Palestinian land in West Bank

Conal Urquhart
The Guardian
2007-10-10 00:02:00

©Sebastian Scheiner/AP
Construction workers in the West Bank.


The Israeli army has ordered the seizure of Palestinian land surrounding four West Bank villages apparently in order to hugely expand settlements around Jerusalem, it emerged yesterday.

The confiscation happened as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met to prepare the ground for a meeting hosted by President George Bush in the United States aimed at reviving a diplomatic solution to the conflict.



Comment: Nice touch! That will be the end of that peace process!



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Security contractors kill two women in Baghdad


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-09 23:36:00

Foreign security guards killed two women when they opened fire on a car in the centre of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, witnesses and Iraqi security officials said.

The shooting in Karrada came two days after Iraq vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards were not provoked when they opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 Iraqis.



Comment: The mainstream media now starts calling them foreign security guards, instead of security contractors. How about calling them hired thugs/killers?



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Iran builds air base near Afghan border


RIA Novosti
2007-10-09 23:04:00

Iran has built an air base not far from its border with Afghanistan, Iranian television reported Tuesday.

"The base is designed to enhance the combat readiness of our Armed Forces in standing up to possible aggression against our country," Gen. Ahmad Migani, Air Force commander, said at the base's opening ceremony.



Comment: Who are they kidding? It will just be added to one of the 1,800 planned targets already listed by the Pentagon, who are experts when it comes to destroying things.




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700,000 Palestinians were kidnapped since 1967

Haitham
Sabbah's blog
2007-10-09 22:36:00

©Benjamin Heine


Couple of months ago, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, an ex-detainee, a specialist in Palestinian Detainee's Affairs and the head of the census department of the Ministry of Detainees and Freed Detainees, prepared a comprehensive report on Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel, which revealed that Israel kidnapped 700,000 Palestinians since it occupied the Palestinian territories in 1967.



Comment: Imagine the sheer trauma that this has on the Palestinian population!



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The Loan Gunmen
Blinded by Ideology

Paul Craig Roberts
Counterpunch
2007-10-10 10:02:00

On August 28 the Cato Institute in Washington DC published a report, "Thriving in a Global Economy: The Truth about US Manufacturing and Trade." The report confuses a company's offshored products with its import competition and wrongly concludes that US companies with the most import competition are the companies that are thriving.

The Cato report never mentions the practice of US corporations of offshoring their production for US markets. Consequently, the report conflates offshored inputs and final goods of US corporations with imports from competitive foreign firms. The report thus confuses corporations or industries that offshore their manufacturing with those most exposed to import competition.

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Economists cut 2008 forecasts for U.S. growth


Reuters
2007-10-10 10:13:00

U.S. economists have chopped their forecasts for 2008 economic growth for a third straight month, saying the housing slump will be deeper and last longer than earlier expected, a survey released on Wednesday showed.

The consensus of economists surveyed by the Blue Chip Economic Indicators newsletter sees the U.S. economy expanding 2.4 percent in 2008. That's down from a 2.6 percent projection made last month and a 2.8 percent gain forecast in August.


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Inequality rises! China No.2 in billionaires as assets boom


Reuters
2007-10-10 10:02:00

SHANGHAI - China has more billionaires than any country except the United States, as soaring stock and property prices helped to boost wealth among the country's super-rich, researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said on Wednesday.

The number of Chinese worth $1 billion or more jumped to 108, from 15 last year, growing much faster than in western countries, Hoogewerf said in his 2007 China "rich list," which ranks the 800 wealthiest individuals in the country.


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Alcoa's third-quarter profit rises


Reuters
2007-10-10 01:26:00

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc on Tuesday posted a 3 percent rise in third-quarter earnings, as a gain on the sale of its stake in a Chinese aluminum company offset weaker aluminum prices.

Alcoa also raised its share buyback program -- from 10 percent to 25 percent of outstanding shares, or about 217 million shares. At the current share price that is worth more than $6.7 billion.

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The Living Planet
Propaganda Alert! Greenpeace urges kangaroo consumption to fight global warming

Karen Collier
Herald Sun
2007-10-10 17:08:00

More kangaroos should be slaughtered and eaten to help save the world from global warming, environmental activists say.

The controversial call to cut down on beef and serve more of the national symbol on our dinner plates follows a report on curbing greenhouse gas emissions damaging the planet.

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Western Australia hit by 4.8 quake - again!

Jim Kelly
news.com.au
2007-10-10 07:24:00

AN earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale has rocked parts of southern WA - and has been felt as far away as Perth.

©Geoscience Australia




Comment: Perth is not on within the circle on the map, but a further 135km away.




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3,000 evacuated after China landslide blocks river


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-10 04:08:00

Beijing -- More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in southwestern China after a huge landslide dammed a river, creating a menacing lake that threatened to burst, state media reported Monday.

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New Study Shows Genetically Engineered Corn Could Pollute Aquatic Ecosystems


Environmental News Network
2007-10-08 23:51:00

A study by an Indiana University environmental science professor and several colleagues suggests a widely planted variety of genetically engineered corn has the potential to harm aquatic ecosystems. The study is being published this week by the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.

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Health & Wellness
Californian city Bans Smoking In Some Homes


NBC11
2007-10-10 10:02:00

The Belmont City Council on Tuesday night adopted a landmark ordinance regulating secondhand smoke in the city.

The ordinance passed on a 3-2 vote and will go into effect in 30 days, according to City Manager Jack Crist.

The ordinance was introduced by the City Council on Sept. 11, and then approved with a few wording changes at its Sept. 25 meeting.

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Science & Technology
German Wins Nobel Chemistry Prize


The New York Times/Associated Press
2007-10-10 14:22:00

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Gerhard Ertl of Germany won the 2007 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for studies of chemical reactions on solid surfaces, which are key to understanding questions like why the ozone layer is thinning.

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Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs.

Rick Weiss
Washington Post
2007-10-09 03:23:00

Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month. "I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects."

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too. "I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' "

That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Others think they are, well, dragonflies -- an ancient order of insects that even biologists concede look about as robotic as a living creature can look.

No agency admits to having deployed insect-size spy drones. But a number of U.S. government and private entities acknowledge they are trying. Some federally funded teams are even growing live insects with computer chips in them, with the goal of mounting spyware on their bodies and controlling their flight muscles remotely.

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University Of Leicester Study Into Earth's Magnetic Shield


Terra Daily
2007-10-10 02:33:00

©Unknown
An artist's impression of the view of the Earth from the Moon if we could see in X-rays. The Earth is surrounded by an X-ray glow caused by particles from the Sun colliding with the gas trapped within the Earth's magnetic shield.


Scientists from the University of Leicester have taken an important first step in developing an innovative telescope which could one day be deployed on the Moon. The telescope is called MagEX, which stands for "Magnetosheath Explorer in X-rays" and is an international collaboration between scientists from the United States, the Czech Republic, and the University of Leicester. MagEX will study the magnetosheath, the magnetic "shield" that protects the Earth from the solar wind - the high energy particles that continuously flow out from the Sun. Without this shield, life on Earth as we know it could not exist.

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Major Step Toward Knowing Origin Of Cosmic Rays


Space Daily
2007-10-10 02:15:00

Recent observations from NASA and Japanese X-ray observatories have helped clarify one of the long-standing mysteries in astronomy -- the origin of cosmic rays. Outer space is a vast shooting gallery of cosmic rays. Discovered in 1912, cosmic rays are not actually rays at all; they are subatomic particles and ions (such as protons and electrons) that zip through space in all directions at near-light speed, with energies tens of thousands of times greater than particles produced in Earth's largest particle accelerators.

©JAXA/ Takaaki Tanaka/HESS
This image from Japan's Suzaku X-ray observatory shows RXJ1713.7-3946. This supernova remnant is the gaseous remnant of a massive star that exploded. The remnant is about 1,600 years old. The contour lines show where gamma-ray intensity is highest, as measured by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) in Namibia.




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Polar lightning - not just an earthly phenomenon


Agence France-Presse
2007-10-10 02:04:00

Images from a NASA probe have shown that lightning does occur at the poles on Jupiter, a phenomenon previously only seen on Earth, a study released Tuesday said.

Lightning strikes had previously been observed at lower latitudes and around the equator on the gas planet but the jagged bolts of electricity had never been observed at either of its two poles, puzzling astronomers.

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